This invention relates generally to cutting tools and, more particularly, to a cutting saw used by surgeons in the course of nasal surgery.
In the past, surgical instruments of the type herein involved have been constructed generally along the lines of a scalpel, utilizing the same type of straight, smooth handle members, with teeth being formed similar to those of a rasp or the like. Alternatively, surgeons involved in nasal surgery have made use of a hammer and chisel in order to reduce or change the dimensions or slope of the nasal bone or nasal maxillary junction.
In both situations, the principal cutting or reducing action is accomplished when the instrument used is pushed by the hand of the surgeon in a direction against the nasal bone, towards the orbital cavity and, then, away from the orbital cavity. Such manual pushing action may be quite dangerous, particularly in the cutting of bone from the nasal passages in which a slip of the saw or chisel can easily result in the penetration of the orbital cavity, with possibly serious consequences. It will also be appreciated that in the course of an operation, the surgeon's rubber gloves and, thus, the handles of the instruments used, may be covered with blood, thereby increasing the possibility of slippage or other accidents.
A further problem in the area of nasal surgery has been the difficulty in attaining a sure and reliable reduction of the nasal bone. More particularly, the peculiar anatomy of the nasal-maxillary junction has been an historically difficult one to accurately operate upon, as has been the nasal bone proper. Today most surgeons still perform rhinoplasties using the traditional hammer and chisel method in order to accomplish reduction of the thick portion of the nasal bone. This method has, over the years, been proven to be notoriously difficult to maneuver in, with presently available instruments. Accordingly, the present invention may be viewed as a response to the above-described longstanding problems that have existed in the prior art.
The most pertinent prior art known to the inventors is U.S. Pat. No. 2,741,248 to Woodhall; U.S. Pat. No. 2,951,482 to Sullivan; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,036,236 to Rhodes.